Warren Knight — November 17, 2018 — November 17, 2018
Did you know that on average, people access Facebook an average 8 times per day?
The power of Facebook is clear. It is “The Social Network”. Facebook has the largest social network usage, and even knowing this, it hasn’t always been a favourite network of mine. Truthfully, it was always my least favourite social network up until 2015.
And here’s why.
The biggest issue I always had with Facebook was their introduction of various new features and algorithms that, as an average user like you and me; made the platform even more confusing. As a business owner, I initially gave up trying.
Until now.
Facebook is worth the effort for you, as a business. I am going to share with you a number of ways you can utilise Facebook for your business.
Let’s first look at organic traffic.
Facebook Organic Traffic
The idea behind “organic Social Media traffic” is the fact that you are not paying a single penny for that traffic. There are three very important ways in which you can reach an audience organically; pages, group and live streams.
Facebook Pages
Whilst Facebook Pages has not been an amazing visitor, lead or revenue driver over the last few years, having a Facebook Page does build trust online, and give your ‘audience’ a place to interact with you.
Since running a giveaway through Facebook last year, I have built my page following, and have actually fallen back in love with Facebook Pages because I now see an increase in engagement.
Here are 5 of my top tips to help you maximise your success through Facebook Pages.
#1: Use Your “Real” Facebook Account
When creating your Facebook Page, make sure you use your personal account. The issue with creating a “dummy” account is that it is against Facebook’s terms of service, and because of this, they can shut you down.
#2: Cover Photo
Use your cover photo to showcase your business. Use Canva to help you get the perfect dimensions, and create a professional and engaging image. Facebook also now have a feature where you can add a call-to-action button to the cover photo area.
There are seven options including “shop now”, and “sign up”. Make sure you utilise this, and choose the CTA that is most relevant.
#3: Use Descriptions & Links
When adding images to your Page, make sure you give a detailed description, and a call-to-action link so that your audience can take action.
#4: Facebook Page Tabs
If you go to the Facebook App Centre you will find a selection of apps that you can add to your Facebook page as a tab to help promote your business.
#5: Pinning Posts
Do you ‘pin’ your important post to the top of your page? As timelines are designed in chronological order, your most recent post will sit at the top of your timeline, unless you manually change this. You can ‘pin’ one post at a time, and when you do this, make it a post that does talk about an offer, upcoming event, or announcement.
Facebook Groups
What I’ve realised over the last year and a half is how important Facebook Groups are.
I have created a private members’ Facebook Group for entrepreneurs who have supported me. This group has changed the way I look at Facebook and, more importantly; has allowed me to build a community of engaged target customers.
A great feature inside Groups is being able to upload documents so that everyone has access to them. I encourage my audience to upload their blogs and PDFs around their business to get feedback from me, my team and other group members.
Facebook Live Streaming
Did you know that people will spend 3x longer watching a video which is LIVE compared to a video which is no longer live?
Facebook launched Facebook Live in May 2016, and whilst there was some scepticism in the beginning, the importance of the feature has not gone unnoticed. Facebook Live is an amazing way to connect with your target audience through the power of not only video, but LIVE video.
Here are my three tips for using Facebook Live:
#1: Prepare: when running a Facebook Live, you need to remember that you are live. Preparation is key.
#2: Have a Two-Way Live Conversation: don’t just talk to those watching the live stream, encourage a live two-way conversation by inviting them to join you in real time.
#3: Acknowledge Everyone Watching: you can see every single person who is joining your live stream. When they do, acknowledge them.
Facebook Paid Traffic
A huge 75% of brands on Facebook will pay for Facebook Ads to promote their business. Facebook are always looking at ways to improve their service, and this is exactly what they have done for their Lead Adverts.
Lead Adverts
The new features include creative formats, using carousel and video features as well allowing you to provide more detail to potential buyers about the advantages of sharing their information using the new context card.
All these updates are a great move from Facebook to make their lead advertising even more appealing to businesses who rely heavily on Social Media advertising.
Facebook Pixel
This is a piece of code that is embedded into your website and connects to Facebook Ads to tell you the actions people are taking as a result of your ad. If ROI is important to you (and it should be) this is a must-use feature, giving you the ability to run a more efficient advert, with easy to understand analytics.
You can use Facebook’s Pixel Tracker to track the activity of your target audience from the moment they visit a specific page on your website to clicking on an ad inside Facebook, it then easily helps you understand the success of your advertising campaigns, measure ROI and to be more efficient with your budget.
Another great feature when looking to advertise on Facebook is Custom Audiences.
Custom Audiences
Custom Audiences are used by uploading your existing database to make an audience that you want to target for a Facebook Ad. Custom Audiences is also available on Instagram. Facebook will take your database and analyse every single person who has used the email on your list to create a Facebook account and target your ads at them.
If you are looking to spend money on advertising with one social network; I would recommend Facebook to be your first choice.
Do you feel like you’re ready to achieve success on Facebook as a business?
Originally published here.
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